


Scars

by thats_pretty_asexual_of_you



Category: IcyCaress, XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thats_pretty_asexual_of_you/pseuds/thats_pretty_asexual_of_you
Summary: A story about a character I created, inspired by one of my favorite streamers Twitch stream, hehe. HIs name is IcyCaress, and you should totally check him out!Enjoy the story!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Scars

Stories.

This was how Ace first heard about her new Commander. She remembered being just a newbie, a rookie that was being deployed to his base and becoming part of his team. She’d overheard a few higher-ranked officials whispering about him. They didn’t mention his name at first. But she got it eventually.

Commander IcyCaress. His skills were unparalleled to a lot of other commanders in the region. His combat abilities and directory were risky and dangerous, but effective. His team, the Late Shift Crew, was top notch - a 95% success rate, but a 99% lethality rate. Everyone but a few who had been deployed to his base had died in sometimes incredibly gruesome ways.

The rumors surrounding her new Commander, she would admit, sounded completely outlandish and silly. An ice monster? Seriously? Sure, Icy was...different. A person completely made of ice? Definitely not what Ace had been expecting. But this kind, hilarious ice dude turning into some freakish monster? And tearing his best friend’s back up? Come on. Ace had deduced these “rumors” as fairy tales and ghost stories.

It wasn’t until that night that her mind was thoroughly changed.

She was awoken by the sound of screaming. Alarms and flashing red lights made her deaf and blind as she stumbled out of bed in a tangled mess of blankets. A robotic, pre-recorded message accompanied the alarm: “Caution. Caution. Class FI Threat. Remain in your barracks until the threat has been neutralized.” More screaming brought her out of her dazed, sleepy state as she tensed. Class FI? She’d never heard of that. But she could tell something was obviously, dangerously wrong. 

Ace slowly kicked the blankets off of her as she stood, leaning on the small bed next to her for support. The alarm and lights blared and streaked across the hallway as she slowly opened the door to her barrack. Another scream -- no, a roar -- much closer this time, terrified her enough to make her leap back inside. Her heartbeat skyrocketed, and she started shaking violently from head to toe. Sure, she had heard and seen the ugliness of battle...but this was something much, much different. 

Ace gulped, swallowing her fear and slowly peeked out of the doorway of her barrack once more. Her eyes swept from left to right in the dimly-lit hall, which failed to bring her much light. Her sight was aided by the occasional flashing of the red lights. After scanning for a couple of minutes, she shakily stepped foot out of her room. She felt vulnerable, standing in the desolate, empty in nothing but shorts and tank top, her bare feet slapping against the cold metal floor as she made her way forward.

An ear-splitting roar echoed down the hallway as Ace approached the west end of the hall, and the horrifying noise made her jump and nearly scream. She covered her mouth and stopped it from coming out as she quickly ducked behind the corner. The roar was quickly accompanied by men shouting and guns being fired. But the sounds were quickly capped with screams and sickening crunches; the sound of blood splattering against the walls made Ace drop to her knees and tears brim her eyes.

Thump. Thump. Thump. 

Ace’s heartbeat picked up a few notches as she heard what sounded like a large animal slowly begin walking. Everything in her being was screaming for her to run. Danger! Danger! Run away! But the small girl was sure that running would alert the predator to her presence, so she stayed put. 

The thumping of the footsteps became louder as the monster drew closer. The dripping of what she could only assume was blood grew ever louder, coupled with the footsteps. The lights occasionally illuminated the creature, casting a shadow across the wall opposite side of the hallway.

“Hey, kid!” a voice whispered suddenly. Ace whipped her head around to see a guard there. The voice was male, and he was crouching at the east end of the hall, covered in protective gear. She suddenly started trembling more, and tears began sliding down her face. She could hear it breathing now. Thump. Thump. Thump. 

“Hey, hey! It’s okay, it's alright!” the guard whispered again. “Hey kid, listen. This place is going on Class FI lockdown here in a few minutes. All the entrances are gonna be sealed. I need you to come with me right now.” His words cut into Ace hard. Her breathing became labored as an anxiety attack began settling in. “It’s okay! I’m gonna get ya outta here, alright? Everything's gonna be fine! I just need you to stand and come to me! That's it!” the guard said, extending his hand out to her. Ace’s breathing shook as the shadow flashing on the wall grew bigger.

Suddenly, a thud and the turning of gears began to hum in the walls. A steel barrier began to lower on both ends of the hall. The process was slow, but steady as Ace’s eyes widened in fear. “Come on kid! The lockdown is starting! You gotta run!” the guard said, frantically waving his hand in a come here gesture. The girl swallowed and tried to inch her way up, but paused at the guard’s eyes widening and his jaw going slack in a look of pure fear.

Suddenly, a cold breath of air brushed the back of her neck. Goosebumps erupted over her skin as she froze completely. The air was so cold she could feel her hair begin to grow frost. She didn’t dare turn around to face the creature. The guard looked shocked and terrified at once, completely frozen in place as he made eye contact with a rigid and beyond scared Ace. He mouthed one thing and one thing only: Run.

And that's exactly what she did. She took off running just as the monster sensed her presence. A crashing sound came from behind her as she sprinted desperately towards the guard. Roaring erupted and the sound of bounding footsteps came rushing from behind her. Ace didn’t look back; nothing was controlling her but pure instinct. The door was closing more rapidly now, and the guard was frantically screaming to her, but she couldn’t hear him.

Suddenly, a pain like nothing else erupted on her hip, splitting all the way down to her ankle. Cold but burning at the same time, ripping out chunks of flesh. She could feel the warmth and stickiness of blood. Everything suddenly went white. She could feel herself screaming but her ears were ringing so badly Ace couldn’t hear herself. Her run turned into a dive as she rolled under the door at the last second. 

She could hear the distant shrieking of the beast as the door closed on its claws. Ace couldn’t see it clearly, but she estimated the claws had to be as big as she was. The metal bent as it struggled to slam down the rest of the way. She then heard popping sounds, and bullets sparked off the metal as they shot at the creature. It managed to pry its way under the door enough to get half of its face under. Ace would never forget that face. It would become a part of the nightmares that woke her up at night, the reason for the ghost pains she now felt, the face that molded her perspective on life, the face she saw on someone she used to trust every day she saw him. 

It was Icy trying to pry his way under the door. Only, it wasn’t. His eyes glowed white, his teeth were sharp and pointed like a feral dog. Drool mixed with blood dripped from the fangs as he struggled to try and reach for her. Blood and chunks of flesh covered his maw. It was like a giant, crazed, rabid animal, gasping and shrieking, desperate for a bite of its prey. More gunshots ensued as she stared helplessly at her commander, her vision tunneling. Finally, a shotgun blast to the skull managed to knock Icy back, letting the door firmly close behind him.

The next few minutes were fuzzy. She remembered the warmth as a pool of blood spread across the floor. Her blood. There was no pain, only numbness, as if her brain couldn’t comprehend it. She could see people begin to surround her, but they were only dark shapes. Voices began to blend together into a cacophony of pointless noise. Everything slowly faded away as Ace finally blacked out.

The next time she woke up, she was staring at a gray ceiling. The LED lights blinded her as she stirred from her rest, groaning as her body began to wake. She tried sitting up but was met with white-hot pain, which caused her to yelp. Hurried footsteps began to sound as a nurse rushed up to her side. A nurse. Medicine. Sick bay. She was in the sick bay. 

“She’s awake! She’s alive!” she shouted. More hurried footsteps. Doctors surrounding her. Lots of voices and monitors. It was overwhelming. Ace couldn’t process everything at once. Her brain was too fuzzy. Perhaps that's why her memories of her months at the sick bay were blurred together. A lot of physical and psychological therapy. Lots of examinations. Lots of medicines. An infection scare. The one thing she did remember, though, was on her bedside table: a large bouquet of blue flowers. 

They were in a nice glass vase. When they started to wilt, she always woke up to fresh ones. No card. No message of any kind...just the flowers. She often asked who sent them but they would never tell her; either avoiding the question or just completely ignoring it all together. She loved those flowers, though. They smelled nice, and added a nice splash of color to her small, gray, curtained-off room. Too bad she didn’t get the chance to take them with her after she was released.

Ace didn’t see Icy at all in the weeks after her release. Maybe that was for the best. She didn’t think she could keep her composure if she saw him again. The only time she saw him was when she was deemed fit for combat, and she was back under his command. It took a long time to look at him, to listen to him. Took even longer for her to not get goosebumps whenever he came close to her. Ace noticed it took him a long time as well. 

Ace wondered, at times, about his friend. The one that got his back torn to shreds by the same monster. She wondered if he experienced the same things she did. The nightmares. The sleepless nights. The trauma. The ghost pains. The fear that at any moment, your friend...er, your commander would snap, and that would be the end of you. She tried not to dwell on it. But she couldn’t help but wonder.

The Council gave her some bullshit cover-up to tell people about her injury: Sectoid broke into the facility or something like that. Ace didn’t really listen. They obviously didn’t want the real story getting out. It would ruin their precious reputations. But she just learned to roll with it eventually. And to be honest, she liked the Sectoid attack story over the real deal.

So, stories. That’s what it began with. And that's what it ended with. The incident was never brought up again, and she preferred it that way. But it would always haunt her, though. No matter how many aliens she killed, no matter how many laughs she had, there was always Icy. Those claws clinging to the back of her mind. That cold breath of air on her neck. Like a ghost. Always there, lingering. Waiting to strike again.

Waiting for that finishing bite.


End file.
